Monday, December 09, 2013

LATE THIS AFTERNOON WE HEARD A ‘THUMP’ AT OUR DINING ROOM WINDOW

About 5 this afternoon there was a thump at our dining room window & Kelly hollered, “come look at this large bird”. I recognized it as a hawk right away & I am guessing a young Cooper’s Hawk. Figure it was probably pursuing another bird when it zigged instead of zagged. It didn't appear injured only stunned. We have bird’s fly into our sunroom windows in Bayfield from time to time & I have learned to just leave them be. They generally regain their bearings after a few minutes, pick themselves up, dust themselves off, & fly away. Quickly grabbed my camera & took a few photos through our dining room window. Could have stepped out on the porch for a better photo but I did not want to stress the bird more than it already was. We just watched it sitting there looking around trying to get it’s bearings. Took about 7 or 8 minutes for it to orient itself & with a quick flurry of wings it was gone. By the way that is the brand new Ikea chair I just assembled that this fellow is sitting on.

Woke up to colder temps than the folks back home in Bayfield Ontario. We were at 29F & they were 32F. I could feel the colder morning soon as I got up & knew we had us clear skies overhead. Kind of a good & bad thing about clear winter skies here. They bring us warmer days but also colder nights. However, with a stiff 15 mph North wind this morning we kept our activities inside. We even forewent our walk. Just too uncomfortably cold as our temps remained in the windy low 40’s. Had planned on bringing a few loads of dirt home today, but……….

IF IT WASN’T FOR A DOG SITTING ON MY LAP A LOT TODAY & A HAWK FLYING INTO OUR WINDOW I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD ANY CURRENT PICS FOR TONIGHT’S POST

More than a few RV’ers were/are unfortunately caught up in the bad winter storms crossing the country at the moment. George & Suzie now out of it in Deming New Mexico sure had their troubles getting themselves across Texas a few days ago. Here is just one of those days…FROZEN WATER PUMP

Wind did die down later in the morning & I was able to get a few things done outside. Kelly, who has been having a little trouble with the cold seized the opportunity to head off to Wickenburg in the warm toasty Jeep for a couple hours. Pheebs & I watched a couple ‘Corner Gas’ shows this afternoon. She has been a big help in keeping me warm these days. No sooner do I sit down in my recliner & she is on my lap all snuggled up keeping me warm.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A dog’s property rules:

1. If I like it, it's mine. 2. If its in my mouth, it's mine. 3. If I can take it from you, it's mine. 4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine. 5. If I'm chewing something up, all the pieces are mine. 6. If its mine, it must never appear to be yours. 7. If it just looks like mine, it's mine. 8. If I saw it first, it's mine. 9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine. 10. If its broken, it's yours.

------------------------------------------------------------- - Tourists see the world, travelers experience it. - Home is where your pet is:)) - "If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans." (James Herriot) - The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward - The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL. - It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

There's nothing like a warm, toasty animal in your lap to help with the warmth...Also grandbabies are good for this, and we miss ours...We haven't seen the sun since last Thursday ...that will really work on your "happy thoughts"...

Stay warm, all of you. We have had temps below freezing now for a few days, and we're tired of them. Supposed to gradually warm up toward the end of the week, with some possible rain. Hope it doesn't freeze again after the rain.

Looks like the only warm place is in south Florida, It did make it to the low 60's in San Diego today. just on the edge of what I can stand wh en taking a walk without a jacket. Saw lots of people rea lly bundled up.

Me, no jacket or hat. Them, winter parkas, Ugg boots, scarf and mittens. Must be because I'm from Wisconsin. Cold starts in the 40's or lower.

Thanks for the shout, we got everything all thawed out and hooked up in Benson for a few days.Hopefully now that we are here it will warm up for you guys too.Great pictures of that hawk,Maybe you could get warmer in Winnie the bago?

Sorry Gene, but Al is correct in his identification of the hawk. By its size, I'd say it is a hatching year female Cooper's Hawk. By this time next year, the feathers of its wings, back and head will be gray; its eye will be red; and the striping on its chest will be horizontal rather than vertical. :)

AL'S CAMERA EQUIPMENT

A sometimes asked question readers have about my blog is what kind of a camera do I use. Well I have 8 of them and use them all. Five Nikon DSLR's, two quality Sony point and shoots plus one older Canon point and shoot.

'UPDATE':: July 2017 Thanks to a very generous blog reader I have been able to update my Nikon camera equipment and supplement my camera gear with a couple additional fine Sony cameras as well.I now have a 'donated' Nikon D7200 sporting my new Nikkor 18-300 3.5 zoom lens. Also have picked up a new Nikkor 1.8 primary 35mm lens. In addition I also now have a Sony RX100-3 camera as well as a Sony Exmore Cybershot. I have given my Canon Powershot point and shoot camera to a neighbor.

- In early 2017 I replaced my Nikon D-90 camera with a new D-3400 after the 'auto focus' feature on my aging D-90 quit working. The Nikon D-90 had been my work horse camera sporting a Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens. I used this camera for most of my landscapes and I now have it set up for night photography where 'auto focus' is not necessary.

-My older faithful and favorite Nikon D-40 finally packed it in during the summer of 2015 and I replaced it with a new Nikon D-3100.

- Previous to my Nikon D-90, most of my photos were taken with my old faithful Nikon D-50 from 2006 to early 2011 whereupon the D-50 suffered a rather gruesome death when it fell off a table onto a cement porch in southeastern Arizona. The 70-300mm lens on the camera survived the fall but the D-50 did not. My Nikkor lenses are interchangable between the D-90 the D-3100 and the D-3400.